Visitor Presumed Dead After Vanishing In Lake

DELRAY BEACH — A Brooklyn man being pulled on inner tube at Lake Ida on Tuesday was presumed dead after he slipped off the tube, went under water and never resurfaced.

When the man fell off the Delta Blaster inner tube about 11:40 a.m., his two friends on the boat asked him if he was OK and whether he wanted to go for another ride, said sheriff's spokesman Paul Miller. The victim, whose name was not released Tuesday, said yes and began to swim a few strokes toward the inner tube but then began to flounder in the water, Miller said.

The owner of the boat, Abe Podolsky of Boca Raton, cut the motor of his 18-foot pleasure boat and jumped into the water to help.

"By the time he went in after him, he had disappeared," Miller said.

Podolsky and an unidentified woman passenger who was visiting from Israel jumped into the lake but could not find their friend. A person on a nearby personal watercraft called 911.

Witness accounts and a videotape made by one of the boaters helped divers from Delray Beach Fire Rescue narrow down a 75-square-foot area to search the 20-foot-deep water.

"He looked like he had trouble staying afloat," said fire rescue Battalion Chief Russ Accardi, referring to the videotape.

The video shows the man flailing in the water but ends before he goes under because both people aboard the boat had jumped into the lake.

Four divers searched another 75-square-foot area north of the original spot and suspended their operation after an hour, Accardi said, adding that the mucky water had near-zero visibility.

Divers from the sheriff's marine unit took over the recovery effort but had not found the body by Tuesday evening. The sheriff's helicopter was expected to make one last sweep of the area before nightfall to look for the man.

Miller said the victim, about 35 years old, knew how to swim and declined to use a life jacket though there was safety equipment aboard the boat.

The Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident as an accidental drowning.

Nancy L. OthM-sn can be reached at nothon@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6633.